Enermax has a new power supply on the market that is fully modular, fanless, and digital to boot. the new 550W PSU falls under the company's DigiFanless brand and looks to be perfect for enthusiasts wanting a silent PC.

The Enermax EDF550AWN is the first 550W power supply that is both fanless and supports digital monitoring and control. The 80 PLUS Platinum rated PSU is fully modular and supports both single and multiple +12V rail configurations (user-selectable, +12V1 and +12V2 are rated at 30 amps).

There are no fans here, just lots of ventilation for passive cooling. Enermax officially rates the power supply at 40°C (104°F) maximum operating temperature while delivering the full 550W ouptut power, but in talking with Maximum PC at Computex the company stated that in its testing lab they were able to maintain the maximum output at up to 50°C temperatures before the PSU needed to shut down.

The digital nature of the PSU is related to the ZDPMS (Zero Delay Power Monitoring System) technology which allows users to monitor and control the hardware using software running on the PC it is installed in. The application displays, in real time, the total output power, efficiency, temperature, and individual rail performance. Users can also input their $/KWh electricity costs into the TCO calculator to figure out how much it costs to run their PC and the CO2 footprint. Users are also able to use the ZDMS to adjust the current output and warning notification thresholds.

Maximum PC was on site at Computex and was able to see a demonstration of the PSU monitoring software.

Enermax has included logic to shut down the power supply in the event of overheating as well as the usual fare of safety features (OCP, OVP, UVP, OPP, OTP, SCP & SIP) They even included a bracket that locks the AC cable to the back of the power supply.

From the specifications and this review from ocaholic, the 550W Digifanless PSU is a highly efficient silent PSU with some useful extras that would be perfect for a silent gaming PC, HTPC, or audio engineering PC. It is available now for around $210 from online retailers. Looking on Newegg, you can even get it for 25% off using the promo code 25YRCELEBRATE.

The Enermax Digifanless 550W PSU is completely modular and as the name implies there is no fan to be found in this PSU. Instead large heatsinks take up most of the room inside the casing, with a mix of Nippon Chemi-con, Enesol and DuraTech capacitors with the PFC and power components hidden under those heatsinks. [H]ard|OCP's testing proved that the 80 PLUS Platinum rating that Enermax claims for this PSU is well deserved with efficiency over 90% in testing. [H] was more than impressed with the overall build quality and performance of this heatsink, however the MSRP is significantly higher than the competitions which was why this PSU was left holding Silver. It is not for sale yet here in North America so there is still a chance that a price reduction could make this PSU very attractive for those looking for a silent PC build.

"Enermax joins the ranks of the fanless computer power supply builders. These are of course a must-have for those enthusiasts looking for a zero noise profile computer build. Many times these sorts of builds of course suffer from very hot environments, so fanless PSUs are a perfect fit for our testing criteria."

Streacom recently showed off a new cube-shaped case called the DB4. The new case measures 250 x 250 x 250mm (a bit under 10 inches cubed) and doubles as a passive heatsink for internal components.

The Streacom DB4 is a large cube with vertical finned sides that is held aloft by a thin angled bar. The case is intended to be used as the base for a passively cooled desktop PC. Each side of the cube-shaped DB4 case can cool 65W TDP parts, for a total cooling potential of 260W. In addition to being able to cool processors and low-end graphics cards passively, the case also cools the bundled ZeroFlex 250W fanless power supply.

Unfortunately, Streacom is not showing off the internals or detailing how the PC components are connected to the side(s) of the case. When asked for details by Fanless Tech, Streamcom responded that "we will reveal the internal alyout after all patents are through."

Streacom expects to have the case available for sale sometime between late September or early October for 200 Euros. This is a neat case that is not only fanless, but a work of art. I could see myself using this. What do you think about the Streacom DB4?

Introduction and Features

SilverStone was one of the first PC power supply manufacturers to design and market a fanless power supply for silent operation. While many of their competitor’s fanless products have come and gone, SilverStone continues to build on their reputation and later last year released the SST-ST50NF 500W fanless power supply, which is the latest addition to the Nightjar series. We are a little late to the party in reviewing the ST50NF but after talking with the good folks at SilverStone it appears the wait was worth it as they have continued to tweak the design in recent months to improve AC ripple suppression on the DC outputs.

Here is what SilverStone has to say about the Nightjar 500W fanless power supply: The fanless Nightjar series power supplies are long favorites for professionals and enthusiasts alike that require noiseless power solution with no moving parts. With increasing power demands required from modern computers, SilverStone engineers have once again created another fanless power supply with leading output level in ST50NF. With 500W of continuous rating, near 80Plus Silver efficiency, ±3% voltage regulation, single +12V rail, multiple PCI-E connectors, and full host of safety features, the ST50NF is a great choice for mission-critical systems that need to operate in noiseless or dusty environments.

Editor’s Note: Fanless PC power supplies occupy a niche market and are targeted towards users who want a silent power supply for use in noise-sensitive areas or who need a power supply that can survive in a dusty/dirty environment that might choke and kill a conventional fan cooled PSU. Fanless power supplies rely on convection cooling and still require airflow in and around the power supply chassis to carry away the waste heat. So while the power supply itself may not have a fan, the computer enclosure must still have some means of creating airflow to keep the CPU, GPU and PSU cool. The last thing you want to do is put a fanless PSU in a closed enclosure without any fans or airflow!